Oh My, My, My, My
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: AU; Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert have been friends since they were babies. Their families got together for everything, as did most of the town. But, can their friendship survive the fateful events of Jeremy Gilbert's fourth birthday party? And will it become more in the future?
1. The House in the Backyard Tree

"Hurry up, Damie! I wanna show you what Daddy and I built!"

The young boy, nine years old, dashed after the little girl as her long, fine brown hair flew out behind her. Her brown eyes had been shining with excitement when she'd told him that she had a surprise, and that he couldn't tell anyone about it if she showed him. Of course, he had agreed; curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Slow down, 'Lena!" he complained, a tree branch nearly poking him in his blue eyes as he fought to break through them; he was tall for his age, so it was more difficult for him to dodge the branches of the trees than his seven year old friend here.

"No!" she said with a giggle. "We're almost there, and if we slow down, we'll never be back in time for supper!"

Damon Salvatore groaned, ducking down under a thicker branch and bumping straight into tiny Elena Gilbert, sending them both tumbling down a small hill. Elena shrieked and giggled, landing on top of him when they came to the bottom.

"Topsies!" she claimed proudly, poking his nose. Damon pouted with irritation; she always wound up on top, because she was so small.

"No fair," he grumbled, pushing her off. "We weren't even playing!"

"Don't be a sore loser, Damie… oh!"

Elena scrambled to her feet and ran forward, stopping when she got to a certain tree that, Damon noticed, had a ladder attached. Puzzled, Damon sat up and got to his feet again, brushing the dirt off of his jeans.

"What is it?" he asked, jogging over to her.

"It's my secret club house!" Elena said, stepping up onto the ladder. At this point, Damon had cast his gaze up and noticed for the first time the wooden structure balanced up in the tree.

"That can't be very safe," he said, scrutinizing it. Normally he wouldn't care; he and the boys at school climbed trees much taller than this. But Elena was a _girl. _A _little _girl. She didn't belong in trees; she belonged on the ground, having tea parties with Caroline and Bonnie.

"Is so!" Elena objected as she started to climb. "Daddy nailed it down nice and good for me so I wouldn't fall."

Damon frowned, getting onto the ladder and climbing after her. "I bet he said you couldn't come out here by yourself, too, right? Bet you aren't even allowed to climb up the tree on your own!"

Elena scowled down at him, climbing up the rest of the ladder to the small hole in the bottom of the house. "Am too! Daddy said I could! You can just go home if you're going to be a meanie! I'll bring Steffy next time."

Damon scowled back and climbed faster, causing Elena to squeal and bolt up into the house and out of sight.

"My dad wouldn't let Stefan out here by himself! He'd be too afraid of him getting hurt!"

"Then why are _you _out here?" Elena sneered as she huddled up in the corner, setting up her dolls.

Damon poked his head up into the small house, frowning over at her. "'Cause my dad don't care what I do, that's why!"

"That's a dumb reason," Elena said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Is not!" Damon snapped, leaping up into the house and clenching his fists.

"Is too! Your daddy don't let you do whatever you want! I heard him yell at you before when you was bad!"

Damon frowned, cringing at the memory. His father yelled, alright; and it was always at him. Little Stefan could do no wrong, but Damon? He was the bad one. Always being yelled at, grounded, and _slapped…_

"You be quiet!" Damon yelled, storming over to her and snatching her doll away. "I… I could beat you up if I wanted to for that!"

Elena's eyes widened with fear and they flooded with tears as she huddled backward, suddenly afraid that he may do just that. "No, Damie, no!" she wailed, and the nine year old boy's anger melted away when he saw the tears running down her face.

"Aw, 'Lena," he complained, dropping to his knees and putting her doll down. "Don't cry…"

"You said you was gonna beat me up…!"

He shook his head, moving closer to her and pulling her into a hug. "I won't. I won't hit you…"

Of course, his words didn't help at all. She just continued to wail and cry into his blue t-shirt, her tiny form quivering. Damon felt awful for making her cry; he always felt awful when he made Elena cry. But, he had a temper on him; a temper he'd inherited from his father…

"Hey… why don't we go back to the party? Get some birthday cake, huh? I bet Jeremy wouldn't mind if we stole a few pieces…"

Elena sniffled, looking up at him with her big brown eyes. "Cake…?"

Damon nodded lots. "Yeah! Lots of cake… I bet it's chocolate, too; your mommy makes the best chocolate cake."

Elena grinned and wiped her tears away, shaking her head. "No way! Your mommy does!"

Damon leapt up to his feet, grabbing her small hand in his. "Come on, then; before stupid Stefan eats it all!"

Giggling, Elena shook her head. "No, Steffy wouldn't do that; he don't like chocolate cake. Only chocolate bunnies at Easter time."

Damon shook his head as he towed Elena toward the exit. "Stefan and his bunnies…"

… . … . … . … . … . …

"Truth or dare, Bonnie?"

"Umm… truth!"

The little girl nodded, her dark pigtails bouncing as all of the children sat in a circle in the grass, eating cake and ice cream; Damon was wedged between Elena and, much to his distaste, Stefan. His mother had insisted that he let his little brother play with them all, because it was only fair. Begrudgingly, Damon had agreed; he did just about anything his mother asked, mainly because Angelique Salvatore always asked him _nicely. _Unlike his father…

"Who's the cutest Backstreet Boy?"

"Ewwwww, Caroline!" Bonnie said, pretending to gag. "Boys are icky!"

Caroline rolled her blue eyes and tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder, huffing. "You're so impature, Bonnie," she sneered, and Damon snickered.

"_Immature, _Caroline…"

"That's what I said, doofus!" she snapped, glaring at him. "Anyway, the answer is obviously Nick. Nick is the cutest."

"Nuh uh!" Elena objected, turning to look at Caroline, who was sitting beside her. "Brian is the cutest! Me and Mummy both think so!"

"Is not!"

"Is too…!"

"Oh, whatever! It's your turn!" Caroline huffed, and Elena grinned, turning to Damon.

"Truth or dare, Damie?"

Damon looked thoughtful before responding with, "Dare."

Elena was about to speak when Caroline leaned over, whispering something in her ear. Elena giggled and nodded, turning to face Damon again.

"I dare you… to kiss me!"

Damon's eyes widened, moving backward a bit. "_Kiss _you?"

Elena nodded, proud of her dare. It was the most grown up one any of them had done so far. The best part was there was no way Damon would do it.

"On the lips!" Caroline said, grinning deviously, and there were numerous gags around the circle, most of them coming from Matt Donovan and Tyler Lockwood.

"Gross!" the said at the same time, and Caroline grinned wider.

Damon was conflicted. The boys were right; kissing girls was strictly forbidden. It was gross, and everyone knew it gave you cooties. Cooties could kill you, right?

Damon thought about his parents fleetingly; well, _they _kissed, and both of them were still alive and well. He was older than all of the other kids, too; maybe one little kiss wouldn't hurt him. Surprising everyone, he leaned forward and puckered his lips.

Horrified, Elena squealed and leapt to her feet, dashing away across the lawn. "Damie, no! That's icky!"

His lips formed into an irritated pout as he got to his feet and chased after her. "You dared me to! If I don't, I lose!"

"No!" Elena squealed, running faster when she realized he was gaining on her. "I'll get cooties!"

"Come back here!" Damon yelled, running as fast as he could. "I gotta kiss you, dummy!"

"Noooooo!" Elena shrieked, squeaking when she tripped and fell on her face into the grass, rolling onto her back just in time to be tackled by Damon.

"Topsies," he said with a smirk, leaning down and placing a clumsy kiss to her lips, pulling back quickly.

"Ewww…!" Elena said in a high pitched voice, a look of disgust on her face. "Damie…!"

"Gross!" he complained, wiping his mouth on his arm. "You gave me _girl slobber!_"

"You kissed me, icky boy!"

"You _slobbered on me, _icky girl!"

The group of children were hysterical with laughter; Caroline was rolling around on the grass, and shrieked with horror when Matt and Tyler both pounced on her in attempt to kiss her and get revenge on Damon's part, seeing that, miraculously, Elena's girl cooties hadn't killed him.

"No!" she screamed, thrashing around. "Everybody needs to stop kissing me!"

Both boys were cackling with delight, and Bonnie pounced on them in attempt to rescue her friend. "Dumb boys!" she squealed.

In all of the excitement, the group had failed to keep track of Stefan. None of them had even thought of him until…

"_Oh, my God! Look!_"

"_Angelique, go grab him!_"

"_Stefan, no!_"

There was a squeal of tires, numerous shouts from the adult crowd, and then all was deathly silent. A few moments later, Stefan started to wail.


	2. Friends Forever

Damon couldn't remember a time when he had stayed awake so late. He was sitting in the hospital waiting room beside his father, awaiting results. Luckily, Damon hadn't seen exactly what had happened for himself; he and Elena had been too caught up in their playful little argument. It wasn't until his father started yelling at the top of his lungs that fear had caused him to look up.

Stefan was fine. All that he had suffered from was a scraped elbow from when he had been flung away onto the sidewalk.

But Angelique…? That was a different story. Damon's mother had been in the middle of a conversation with Miranda Gilbert, her back turned to the road when Carol Lockwood had given a horrified cry to get her attention.

Stefan had lost his soccer ball that he'd been kicking around when it rolled across the street, and he'd impulsively chased it across the road, not noticing the car coming straight at him. Angelique had run faster than ever before and managed to push her youngest son out of the way, but not without receiving full impact of the car herself. The driver had sped off when he realized what he had done, leaving Angelique unconscious and bleeding in the middle of the street.

All Damon remembered was that, when he tried to run to his mother, Grayson Gilbert had grabbed him and started shouting things at the other children, making them all run into the house. Elena, however, hadn't done so straight away.

"_Damie…?_" she'd asked fearfully, trying to touch his arm as he struggled to break free of her father's arms.

"_Elena! Get in the house right now!_"

Not used to having her father yell at her, Elena had reluctantly done so. Ambulances had brought Damon's mother to the hospital and now, they waited. Waited, and waited, and waited…

Finally, one of the nurses emerged with Stefan holding her hand, and Giuseppe leapt to his feet.

"Where's my wife?" he snapped, and Stefan pulled away from the nurse and ran forward, clinging to his father's leg. Damon remained in his seat, his eyes wide, waiting, engulfed with fear, to hear to news.

Keeping quiet for a moment, the nurse simply shook her head. "We did everything we could," she whispered. "But… she's gone."

Damon's face had been puzzled with confusion. His mother was… gone? Where had she been taken? To a different hospital? He hoped not; he was too tired to drive any further…

His father's dark eyes widened with disbelief. After a moment, he shrugged Stefan off and ushered him back over to the nurse, turning to Damon. Without a word, he grabbed his eldest son's arm and tugged him from the waiting room and outside into the cold night, only releasing him once the sliding doors shut behind them.

"You were supposed to be watching him," Giuseppe said, his voice frighteningly quiet.

Damon looked up at his father with fearful blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Dad… Elena and I were playing, and I didn't think…"

"_You were supposed to be watching him!_"

Damon flinched back when his father shouted, quivering slightly. "I didn't think he'd run away…"

"Do you realize what you've done?" Giuseppe hissed with his eyes wild with fury. "_Do you?_"

Shaking his head, Damon backed up against the wall beside the sliding doors. "No…"

"Well, _boy, _let me tell you. Your mother is _dead. _She is _gone, _and she's not coming back. She died to save your brother! She's dead because of you…!"

Damon's eyes had been widening with horrified disbelief, and he gave a terrible wail of agony when his father's hand came down and smacked him in the face with such force that it sent him flying to the side, making him fall to the ground and scrape his cheek and arm on the gravel. Tears of pain and horror filled his eyes as he shook his head. "No…! No, she c-can't be…!"

"_Shut up! Shut up, you miserable excuse for a son!_"

Damon wailed again as Giuseppe's foot came in contact with his stomach, gasping for breath as agonized sobs escaped him, trying to beg his father to stop, but unable to speak through the pain radiating through his body. He simply whimpered when Giuseppe grabbed him up by his dirty blue shirt and yanked him toward the car, tossing him into the back.

"You can sit here and think about what you've done while I go get your brother," he hissed venomously, slamming the door shut, causing the entire car to shake.

Once he was gone, Damon crumbled, quivering harder than ever before, sobbing hysterically. His mother was dead. She was dead because of him…

_His mother was gone, leaving him in the hands of only his father._

… . … . … . … . … . …

It had been two days since the accident, and Elena was, despite the circumstances, excited to finally see Damon again. As soon as their car pulled up in front of the Salvatore's massive white house, Elena had jumped out and started to run for the door, only stopping when her mother grabbed her hand, shaking her head as she got down to her level.

"Elena, sweetie," she said, tears shimmering in her eyes. "This is a very, very sad day. You need to be on your best behavior, and think about what you say before you say it. Damon probably won't want to play today."

Elena's brow furrowed with confusion, and she pulled at the hem of her black dress. "How come?" she asked, and her mother bit down on trembling lips, standing quickly.

"Grayson…" she said, her voice trembling. He simply nodded and waved her away, scooping Elena up.

"Mrs. Salvatore… had an accident, Elena," he said calmly, and Elena frowned.

"Well, that's okay… Accidents happen all the time. I spilled crayons in school, but it was an accident…"

Grayson shook his head. "She had an accident with a car, sweetie. She was trying to help Stefan… it hit her. She went to live with the angels later that night."

Elena's eyes widened. She knew what happened when people went to live with the angels; you didn't get to see them anymore. Her grandfather had gone to live with the angels when she was five.

"But… Damie needs his mommy," she said quietly with confusion. "She can't go live with the angels now…"

"Sometimes people don't have a choice, Elena," Grayson sighed, setting his daughter on her feet. "Just… make sure you're nice to Damon and Stefan today, okay? Tell them that you're sorry, and don't be too noisy. They're going to be very sad today, just like you were when Grampy left."

Elena nodded slowly, taking her father's hand and starting toward the front steps. Jeremy was being babysat by her aunt, Jenna, because, according to her parents, he was too loud for something like this.

When the door opened, Elena knew they had been right. Unlike the many times she'd been to the Salvatore mansion before, there was no excitement. There was no piano music, no happy laughter; no Angelique Salvatore. Everyone was dressed in black, and Elena caught sight of Stefan in his usual place; clinging to Giuseppe's leg.

"Where's Damie, Daddy?" she asked quietly as her eyes scanned the room.

"He's probably in his room, sweetheart. It's like I- Elena!"

Grayson hissed his daughter's name with irritation as she pulled her hand from his grasp and ran toward the stairs, earning a glare from a very somber, likely very drunk, Giuseppe. Elena ignored her father, however, and ran up the stairs and toward the door she knew belonged to Damon. Opening it quietly, she poked her head into the room.

"Damie?" she asked softly, catching sight of him sitting on his bed with his head down, his legs dangling over the edge as he glanced at something in his hands, sniffling. He was dressed in a small, black suit, and Elena thought that he looked very nice. That is, she thought so until he looked up at her and she noticed his red rimmed eyes.

He sniffled and wiped the tears from his cheeks, putting the picture that he had been clutching down on his bed beside him. "Hi, 'Lena…" he whispered, and Elena's eyes widened as she moved closer and noticed the damage on his face. He had a large, bruised black eye and numerous scratches on one of his cheeks.

"You got hurt, too?" she whispered, climbing up onto the bed beside him and touching his cheek. Damon flinched and shifted away.

"Don't do that!" he croaked, and Elena quickly pulled her hand away.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered, and Damon miserably looked down, shaking his head.

"I… I'm supposed to say I fell… fell at the hospital…"

"You're supposed to…?" Elena asked with confusion, and Damon nodded weakly, bringing his gaze up to look at her as tears slipped down his marred cheek.

"Can you keep a secret, and promise not to tell anyone?" he asked weakly and she nodded, moving closer; she and Damon always told each other secrets, and she never told anyone, not even her mommy and daddy.

"Cross my heart," she whispered, taking his hand.

Damon wiped his tears with his free hand, swallowing hard. "My dad… he hit me. He hit me hard and made me fall, and then he kicked me, too…"

Elena's eyes widened and she gave a tiny, strangled gasp when he lifted the hem of his white dress shirt to show her the bruises on his stomach.

"Your daddy hurt you…?" she whispered in disbelief, and Damon nodded.

"He hurt me bad… He told me not to tell anyone; said no one would believe me anyhow."

Elena was quiet for a moment before moving a bit closer, squeezing his hand in hers. "I believe you, Damie," she whispered, and Damon gave her a tiny, shaky smile.

Moving as close as she could get, Elena wrapped her small arms around his torso and hugged him as gently as she could without making his bruises hurt, nuzzling her head against him. "My daddy said your mommy went to live with the angels," she whispered, not looking up at him as he hugged her back. "He told me to say I'm sorry, but I don't think I should be sorry; it's nice where the angels are. She'll be happy up there."

Damon, despite his strong emotional pain, actually found a bit of hope and comfort in his little friend's words. "You… you really think she'll be happy, 'Lena?"

Elena nodded, looking up at him. "I know she will. Maybe she'll even get to see my grampy."

Damon gave her a tiny smile, another tear escaping his eye. "I hope so…"

"I thought that, maybe, without your mommy here anymore you might get lonely," Elena said, still hugging him. "But then I realized that you wouldn't. Wanna know why?"

"Why?" Damon asked, releasing her from his hug curiously.

"Because you and me are gonna be friends forever," she said, giving him a wide grin, flashing her few missing baby teeth. "And, if you ever start to miss your mommy, you can come see me!"

Damon gave her a weak smile, looking down again. "Thanks, 'Lena…"

Elena glanced at him, gently nudging his arm with hers. "We are gonna be friends forever… right?"

Damon nodded as he picked up his picture again, staring down at his mother's smiling face.

"Yeah…" he whispered, nodding. "Yeah, we're gonna be friends forever."

"_Damon! Get down here this instant!_"

Damon cringed at the sound of his father's furious, drunken voice, and he shakily put his picture down, getting to his feet.

"Wait!" Elena cried, bouncing off of the bed and running forward to grab his hand. "We'll go together," she declared, and Damon gave a small smile of relief; there was no way his father could hurt him again if he had Elena at his side.

"Together," he agreed with a nod, and they both started out the door.

... . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . …

_~Nine years later~_

"Shit!"

The hot Virginia sun was beaming down over all of small town Mystic Falls; it was even hotter than normal for a day in the middle of July. Damon Salvatore moved to stand up straight from the position he was in; crouched over his old 1969 blue Camaro, which had another engine failure a few days ago. Emphasis on _another. _Of course, Saint Stefan never had any of these problems; the sixteen year old moron had gotten his license a few months ago, and had been rewarded with a brand new red Porsche 911 Turbo. Damon, however, had possessed the exact same old, run down vehicle for the past two and a half years; with no hope whatsoever of an upgrade.

Swearing furiously when he smacked the top of his head against the hood, he ran a hand through his damp, unruly black hair, tugging off his black t-shirt and tossing it aside. Now, if any of the girls from school had been there at that moment, they'd likely have all swooned and fallen over. Not that Damon would care. There always had been, and always would be, only one girl for him…

"Gotcha!"

Damon jumped with surprise, slamming the hood to his car shut when someone pounced on his back, just barely keeping himself from falling over.

"Awww, did I scare you?"

Damon turned his head, and his blue eyes locked with the bright, twinkling brown eyes of Elena Gilbert, who presently had her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his torso, grinning like a devious child.

"No," he said, allowing a smirk to cross his face as he grabbed her calves to keep her from falling. "But it was a nice try."

"Oh, yeah right!" Elena laughed, laying her chin on his warm shoulder. "You jumped five feet into the air!"

Smirking deviously, Damon swung her around and laid her across the hood of his car, pinning her down by her wrists. "You only wish you could scare me, babe," he said and, before she could object, bent his head down and met her lips with his in a deep kiss. Elena's eyelids fluttered shut as his lips met hers, returning his kiss in the fervent way she always couldn't help but doing.

Grinning when he pulled back, she nibbled her lip, mumbling, "What was I saying?"

"Nothing important," Damon said with a smirk, helping her up, fixing her wrinkled red and white tank top for her. Elena grinned and shook her head.

"Well, actually, I _did _come over here for something important."

"Oh?" Damon asked, leaning against the hood of his car and raising a dark eyebrow. "Just what would that be?"

"My house, six o'clock; we're having a barbeque to celebrate Caroline's sixteenth birthday. I want you to come."

Damon raised an eyebrow; he and Caroline Forbes had never been exactly… the best of friends.

"Does Caroline know you're inviting me?"

Elena snorted. "It's _my_ house, and you're _my _boyfriend; if I want you to come, you're coming."

Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "And if I don't want to come?"

Elena frowned slightly, mirroring his actions. "Well, if you don't want to come, then don't. I'll ask Stefan instead…"

Damon frowned as she turned, grabbing her hand and yanking her against him for another, slightly possessive, kiss. Elena fluttered her eyes open when he pulled back, and he gently nipped her lip, earning himself a small groan from her. "Don't even think about asking my baby brother," he muttered, leaning his forehead against hers. "I'll be there."

She grinned, shaking her head and opening her eyes. "Good. I happen to have a surprise for you, too."

Damon blinked, pulling back a bit. "A surprise? I thought this party was for Caroline?"

"Oh, it is," Elena said with a grin, beginning to walk backwards away from him. "But who's saying we can't also have a little party of our own?"

Damon watched her curiously, and leapt into action when she turned and bolted away. "Get back here!" he shouted, smirking as he chased after her.

They would have a party of their own, alright, and it would most _definitely _be better than anything Caroline Forbes would enjoy…


End file.
